reggiep Posted November 16, 2009 Posted November 16, 2009 I'm just wondering if anyone has any routines they carry out pre sys prepping a machine? My images have crept up in size and I really need to clear them up a bit! For example couldf i remove the windows updates files?
Guest blacksheep Posted November 16, 2009 Posted November 16, 2009 (Obvious one) "system cleanup" and select everything have a look on drives for funny folders like ie. "1901381310301e21ee1" they can go as usually install temp folders. Windows updates? depends which files, there is various uninstall stuff in the Windows main directory. You could in theory remove this but I dont usually bother. Parts of windows you dont use (add/remove programs) etc.. Depends on how short of space you are. I normally do #1 & 2 and run acronis with full compression, or nt backup etc..
Guest TheLibrarian Posted November 16, 2009 Posted November 16, 2009 Use CCleaner to remove the backups that the various hotfixes make.
plexer Posted November 16, 2009 Posted November 16, 2009 What are you using to clone them? WDS reduces image size by removing duplicate files. Ben
Ex-MGSTech Posted November 16, 2009 Posted November 16, 2009 I boot the maqchines from CD and delete the pagefile, windows will just recreate it when it can't find one.... Delete pagefile.sys from root of C:\ or other drives if you've specified a page file for other volumes Steve
srochford Posted November 16, 2009 Posted November 16, 2009 As well as removing the pagefile, you can also remove hiberfil.sys (if power management is set to allow hibernation) - those 2 files alone are huge - could be 8Gb in total if you have 4Gb of RAM! Depending on the apps you have, can they be installed to leave part of themselves on a server? for example, the MSDN library (used with Visual Studio) is massive but can be installed so that the content stays on a server - that saves about a gigabyte. Do people use the office clipart? If not (eg because they use google images etc) then that saves a good chunk of space. Look at something like treesize - find out which folders are taking up space and focus on those.
reggiep Posted November 16, 2009 Author Posted November 16, 2009 What are you using to clone them? WDS reduces image size by removing duplicate files. Ben I'm using FOG. It compresses the image but my mega image before compression is 28 Gig!
tech_guy Posted November 16, 2009 Posted November 16, 2009 I'm using FOG. It compresses the image but my mega image before compression is 28 Gig! Yikes, I thought my 12GB image was big!
reggiep Posted November 16, 2009 Author Posted November 16, 2009 Well it is me "Mega" Image. It has every program on it I can find.
Friez Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 (edited) Perhaps you should look into getting more software deployed via GPO? This way, when the machine first sets up onto the domain, software is pulled across. Theoretically all you need is windows and a bunch of drivers, that'll rapidly reduce your image sizes to < 4 gig. Also, if you're concerned about updates you could look into setting a WSUS server up? Unless you mean to tell me *every* pc in the building needs *every* piece of software installed which makes *every* pc 28gigs+ (even so, bandwidth isn't here nor there if you're throwing 28 gigs around, GPO, fog, or otherwise) Out of curiosity, what is it you're running around the network that requires 28 gigs worth of apps o_O? thepiratebay.com? Edited November 17, 2009 by Friez
sted Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Perhaps you should look into getting more software deployed via GPO? This way, when the machine first sets up onto the domain, software is pulled across. Theoretically all you need is windows and a bunch of drivers, that'll rapidly reduce your image sizes to < 4 gig. Also, if you're concerned about updates you could look into setting a WSUS server up? Unless you mean to tell me *every* pc in the building needs *every* piece of software installed which makes *every* pc 28gigs+ (even so, bandwidth isn't here nor there if you're throwing 28 gigs around, GPO, fog, or otherwise) Out of curiosity, what is it you're running around the network that requires 28 gigs worth of apps o_O? thepiratebay.com? you can also use ghost to deploy single bits of software to pcs so i tend to have 1 image per machine type (one i just looked at is <3gb for xpsp3 ie8 updated to whatever date it was created (i also have a non sysprepped image for future updating)etc sysprepped) then msi deploy owt i can then ghost packages for things i cant msi that way it also means when i get a new machine type i dont need to reinstall anything to the image machine (with a few minor exceptions for old cdserver software etc)
p858snake Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 you can also use ghost to deploy single bits of software to pcs so i tend to have 1 image per machine type (one i just looked at is <3gb for xpsp3 ie8 updated to whatever date it was created (i also have a non sysprepped image for future updating)etc sysprepped) then msi deploy owt i can then ghost packages for things i cant msi that way it also means when i get a new machine type i dont need to reinstall anything to the image machine (with a few minor exceptions for old cdserver software etc) Why keep both non and syspreped images, you can just keep the sysprep image then when you need to do updates use it and reapply the sysprep to it.
sted Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Why keep both non and syspreped images, you can just keep the sysprep image then when you need to do updates use it and reapply the sysprep to it. because after the 3rd sysprep you cant
sparkeh Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 I don't push out software via images but do it all via GPO. I have one universal image which is only a few gig and takes a couple of minutes to apply via FOG, then the machine pulls down all the software that has been assigned to its OU.
srochford Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Different users obviously have different needs but in general the benefit of putting everything in the image (compared to using GPO software installation or similar) is that you multicast the software which is part of the image compared to unicasting that which is put out later. If you've got (say) a 2Gb basic image and 5Gb of software and 20 machines in a room then you can either do this as 1 x 7Gb multicast or 1 x 2Gb multicast + 20 x 5Gb unicast which probably takes more time (even if you've got a 10Gbit feed to your local switch that's still only allowing you 500Mbit for each of your 20 clients). The benefit of multicasting is even more dramatic if you can do (say) 50 machines at a time. There are benefits, though, of keeping the apps separate. If you want to update an app, it's easy to just add the new one to the group policy; no need to redeploy the whole app.
SpuffMonkey Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Turn off windows restore - that frees up a load
Friez Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Different users obviously have different needs but in general the benefit of putting everything in the image (compared to using GPO software installation or similar) is that you multicast the software which is part of the image compared to unicasting that which is put out later. If you've got (say) a 2Gb basic image and 5Gb of software and 20 machines in a room then you can either do this as 1 x 7Gb multicast or 1 x 2Gb multicast + 20 x 5Gb unicast which probably takes more time (even if you've got a 10Gbit feed to your local switch that's still only allowing you 500Mbit for each of your 20 clients). The benefit of multicasting is even more dramatic if you can do (say) 50 machines at a time. There are benefits, though, of keeping the apps separate. If you want to update an app, it's easy to just add the new one to the group policy; no need to redeploy the whole app. Agreed, however, I am skeptical that all machines in his workplace need all software. For instance, we only have cubase installed in our music labs, and only photoshop is available for Art. Maybe he can trim down some image size by moving over some of these into appropriate GPO's?
localzuk Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 because after the 3rd sysprep you cant Huh? You can re-sysprep a machine as many times as you want...
sted Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Huh? You can re-sysprep a machine as many times as you want... i thought after the 3rd attempt it stopped letting you sysprep it anymore so you couldnt get round activation by just sysprepping every 30 days
localzuk Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 i thought after the 3rd attempt it stopped letting you sysprep it anymore so you couldnt get round activation by just sysprepping every 30 days Sysprep is not the same as activation... You can sysprep as many times as you want. You can only activate 3 times. From the MS site: Sysprep must be used only to configure new installations of Windows. You can run Sysprep as many times as required to build and to configure your installation of Windows. However, you can reset Windows activation only up to three times. You must not use Sysprep to reconfigure an existing installation of Windows that has already been deployed. Use Sysprep only to configure new installations of Windows. What is Sysprep?
sted Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 fair enough i stand corrected but i still think its worth having a pre sysprepped image around
jack0w Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 i thought after the 3rd attempt it stopped letting you sysprep it anymore so you couldnt get round activation by just sysprepping every 30 days I have to admit I was under the same impression. Is this just a myth?
sparkeh Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 I have to admit I was under the same impression. Is this just a myth? Yes. See localzuk's post above
Teth Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 I'm not convinced that with XP infinite syspreping is a good idea. I use a default image with the basics that every machine receives windows, drivers, couple of system software bits, current windows updates as of when the image was created and CS3 because deploying it by GPO took 3 times longer than including the same data in the image. I update the image roughly twice a year but in the 3 years I've been working here I've had to start from scratch a couple of times with most of the images because they became "broken" with multiple syspreps. Not the same exact problem each time but one image developed an issue that made it impossible to connect to WMI on any machine based on it. Another one developed a logon issue for users which repeatedly prevented roaming profiles applying. I did allot of hunting to find exactly what was wrong with them but in the end I remade the image from a clean XP SP3 disc and everything was great.
Ex-MGSTech Posted November 17, 2009 Posted November 17, 2009 Sysprep is not the same as activation... You can sysprep as many times as you want. You can only activate 3 times. If you used a VLK copy rather thank trying to activate every build (based on an OEM copy of XP)it would cease to be a problem? Volume Licence versions of Xp don't need activation, and can be syspreped as often as you like. HOWEVER, as sysprep occasionally stuffs up your build when running, it would suggest it WAS a good idea to keep a pre-sysprep inage unless you wish to risk a weeks work making your master image? You can always delete it afterwards? Steve Imaging systems since NT4!
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